Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
It is my very firm belief that if the IRS were to REALLY take a close look at the shenanigans happening around this PAC, that Sarah might find her self running for president of cell block 15, rather than president of the United States.And I am pretty sure both the Democrats and Republicans know that.
....and then she can blame Obama's IRS for any audit....victimized again...poor baby!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree - let's hope that they are investigating behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately there are so many "legal" ways to funnel money from one fund to another and another and through a zillion loopholes and then into Sarah the Lying Quitter's pocket that all the investigation in the world may not be able to uncover all the ways she stole money from her fans.
But I still have some hope that Sarah hasn't been able to cover all her tracks and her criminal activity will eventually be revealed - not only SarahPac but
who built her house?
where are the clothes from the campaign trail (total now revealed as over $250,000 worth) - if she kept them isn't that income?
what is the legal status of her legal fund to pay for legal fees she really doesn't have and if she did she could afford to pay them herself and still have tons of cash left over?
Hey, anyone the IRS fucks with will cry victim....This is one time I'll LOVE the IRS!
ReplyDeleteSo maybe he is trying to up his ratings. Didn't they go down by 44%? What can you expect from a faux ivy league school graduate?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it has already been discussed that other PAC have done the same and I am sure that she more than researched what was legal or not since she knows that she is held up to a higher standard than anyone else. BTW, how many other PAC's have been dissected by you and yours? Your argument would hold more weight if you had a representative study of what is the norm and if anyone else had some something like this. BTW, they have.
And that is why $P does not want government in anyone's business. Grifters like Palin want to keep on grifting without law enforcement or other responsible agencies looking over her shoulder or enforcing consequences. And what better way to do that than to get elected herself in order to exploit and control and intimidate. Or start a PAC or other nonprofit as a shell to launder and grift from. She belongs in jail.
ReplyDeleteThe "gates" are too numerous to list...thank God for palingates.com and their careful documentation of Palin's graft and other illegal/immoral/unethical activities.
Love it! KO just created a new name for Scammin' Sarah: "Half Governor"!
ReplyDeleteBut you do have to give her credit. Since her "resignation" she has managed to enrich herself to no end by way of a ghost written book, multiple well paid appearances, and a gig on Faux News which allows her to babble on ad infinitum as she counts the Benjamins and says nothing of substance.
An unauthentic creation raking it in; she must be laughing heartily all the way to the nearest bank.
I don't know. . .I've been researching all the definitions and rules re: PACs and I suspect that SarahPAC has remained within bounds, courtesy of Baker & Hostetler. The only speed bump I can see might be that there will be a gut load of taxes due on the 'business' or non-campaign, non-candidate specific stuff. . .as in, MOST of the expenditures, as Sarah herself is not a declared candidate or campaigning for office (snort).
ReplyDeleteBut, as there is a hog pile of cash still remaining, no problem there.
I don't think Palin has the ethics to run a cell block. Even criminals have standards.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I am amazed at the constant berating of Sarah Palin on this blog. We have such important problems in our nation. I only wish the concentration could be put there vs at the pettiness of wishing ill will against Sarah. I do think "the people" are rising up against this big money handout/bailout and looking to someone or something to aid our country. We as Americans, have made this mess. We have allowed congress our senators etc to continue because times were good, so we stuck our heads in the sand. To heap this mess on Sarah Palin is disingenuous and mean spirited and doesn't advance this mission of making America great again.
ReplyDeleteOf course anon 6:12 has to dicredit Olbermann with that tired old DEBUNKED Ann Coulter TAKLING POINT regarding Olbermann's degree from Cornell University. Not only has he diplayed his diploma on air (something which we have never seen from your queen Sarah), but he only went to one school and didn't take 6 years to finish!
ReplyDeleteNo one says it is illegal to buy books for your donors from your publisher....BUT SARAH DID IT WITH HER DONOR'S FUNDS, them collected personal royalties off of said books for her own gain. She bought books with your money to give to you as a reward for giving her money, get it? Joe Leiberman did this, but refused the royalties.
Sarah used all donated free money to pay for expenses which benefited her personally like the book and that speech in communist China. See anything wrong with that? If not, go make another donation to SarahPAC, because she has alot of 6 figure engagements coming up.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Lady Rose,
ReplyDeleteHow often have we heard a news commentator say "Today, after an exhaustive 3 year investigation by the FBI, a raid was conducted on the offices of... "?
You are doubtlessly right. Whether it's the FBI or the IRS or whomever, I'll bet dollars to donuts she and her former administration (or maybe her current professional associations) are being investigated. Why else would she be in such a mad scramble to make as much money as she can grab before - dum de dum dum... dum de dum dum - the jig is up!
Anonymous 6:12 - You are right that this is unfortunately common practice in politics. I think we should all take responsibility to look up our state's representatives are up to. For starters, try http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/index.php
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I think what people find most galling about Palin's activities is that she bills herself as the ultimate Washington outsider and reformer. I don't see a problem with her buying the books wholesale for distribution to her donors, but it seems dickish to then take a royalty payment on it. She could've made arrangements with the publisher to donate the royalties to charity.
Her filing shows no donation to Special Olympics and yet she made a video for them with Trig. The National Downs Association only got $1000, and at the last minute before the end of the tax year. I had expected them to get a bundle after the way she waved Trig around at every stop on the book tour.
KO hit the nail on the head--she's willing make political hay using her children at every turn. I don't recall any other politician doing this. Not only is it unbecoming for a politician, it's horrifying to all the parents in the country who really do care about protecting their kids from bad life experiences.
It's been said many times before on this and other blogs. She is using her family as a shield to distract from her own bad/criminal behavior.
There are postings on other blogs that something unflattering is going to break today about her, so the timing seems pretty convenient.
Be still my heart! The very thought of poor little Miss Sarah in a federal prison is simply enough to give one the vapors! Palin is so unconcerned about ethics and regularly employs her shoot-from-the-hip style that it would not surprise me in the least to learn that she had run afoul of ethics rules regarding her PAC monies. Don't you folks know that rules are for OTHER people, not Sarah. SHE is far too important to be troubled by RULES.
ReplyDeleteWould Palin's shit-head posse still worship her if she were in the big house? I suppose that unless she ate an aborted fetus on live TV she would ALWAYS have the support of at least a sizable portion of the inbred teabagger tribe. Even then I'm sure there would be some who would willingly believe that it was probably a socialist fetus and it had it coming.
I've heard that as many as 30% of Russians would be in favor of a return to rule by Stalin, if he weren't so inconveniently dead, that is. Some folks just cannot accept reality or be trusted to act in their own best interests.
Anybody in favor of Palin holding any elected office higher than kindergarten milk monitor should not be allowed near sharp objects. If we instituted a rudimentary intelligence test to gain access to the voting booth, these people would NEVER get to vote.
How can some people be so unbelievably, so amazingly, so fucking stupid?
Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I found your post title hilarious! I can just picture you spinning in your chair toward the different cameras, ala Ben Affleck style.
In the meantime, I will keep all my fingers and toes crossed that Palin does get investigated and sent to prison. Whoo boy! Wouldn't THAT throw her bots in a tizzy?!
Great video Gryphen. I heard about it but hadn't run across it til here.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
And once again, an Anonymous berates us for attacking Sarah instead of dealing with important issues.
ReplyDeleteTo explain to the intelligence-impaired, dare I say retarded readers here? Yes, I dare- and if you want to think I'm insulting Baby Jebus Trig, that's fine with me- THIS IS PROBABLY NOT THE ONLY BLOG WE READ. Now, I realize, some of you have a hard time spelling out "Dick and Jane" even when you follow along with your finger with your lips moving. But some of us read on a wide range of subjects in a variety of media. Some of us enjoy- gasp!- books. Newspapers. Magazines. Newsblogs. Many of us have more than one interest. I enjoy cooking, reading, and romantic walks on the beach (but I've been married for 33 years, so sucks to be you!).
I figure Alaska's problems belong to Alaskans but I find them interesting. I find Sarah to be the most unbelievably blatant criminal, cowardly incompetent grifter ever to grace politics, and I am SO looking forward to her going to jail. I realize that some people think her lawyers would keep her legal, but I'd like to point out that she has a tendency to hire the incompetent and ignore advice. I come here the way some people watch soap operas, but if you wrote a soap opera of Sarah's life, people would say it was too unbelievable.
Sorry, I now have to get back to my incurably trivial job of hospital nursing. Pre and postop surgical, to be precise. Gods, I am SO shallow.
Ivyfree
@Anon 6:12
ReplyDeleteIt's the circular nature of the thing that annoys me. As someone pointed out, it's taking money from someone, spending that money to make more money for yourself, then returning a pittance to the donor.
The whole bus tour deal is simply self-promotion to make money. Sorry, she wasn't representing anyone but herself on that tour, and the entire objective was to sell books.
So you've got the bulk of the expenses going for Sarah to make more money for Sarah. Considering the bulk of her donations came from individuals, that's Aunt Sarah's SSI paying for a private jet, and I just think that's scamming.
All the consultants just smacks of the Mat Maid dairy scandal. Give jobs to everyone I like so they can get money too.
I'm a HUGE cynic when it comes to politicians. I'm under no notion that everyone but Sarah is on the up-and-up and never does anything wrong. But they didn't run on a platform of "open and transparent" and "I'm not politics as usual."
Sarah has shown time and time again that she is far from open or transparent, and that she is just more politics as usual albeit with far poorer English. She is not special or unique. She has merely found a niche to exploit.
Olbermann graduated high school and entered Cornell at the age of 16. He finished in 4 years. I would love to see Sarah try to go one on one with him. I would submit Keith would not show the same restraint Biden did during the debate.
ReplyDeleteWhat I dislike the most is that horrible person consulted with Cheney who had NO JURISDICTION regarding Alaska about Alaska. We do not elect our Alaskan governor with the expectation that she will go running girlishly to the nearest despots to ask what to do next on the last frontier. She bragged about her consultations with Cheney in her state of the state address. Glad she quit; wish Parnell would too. Cut from the same servient cloth. "Mr. Cheney et al. what do you want us to do to Alaskans? Lock em all up?" Why yes dear Parnell. Anybody got any other vision for Alaska? Hope so...
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the FEC website, you can try to make head or tails of their rules, guidelines and regulations. But there is one very nice spot further down the page. Anyone can file a complaint; they even provide a link!
ReplyDeleteSo please make sure that anyone who ever filed an ethics violation against Sarah in Alaska considers filing one last complaint. I hope there is an accountant and/or lawyer who can figure out the recent statement released to the public and figure out where it passes the smell test. The only thing that Sarah loves more than publicity is money.
Enjoyed this as all your previous Palin posts, but just how deep does the Sarah Palin rabbit hole go? the fascist trinity of Murdoch/Ailes/Rove have indeed helped to market this GOP televangelist/grifter to deluded masses as a modern day Esther,but there's something much more sinister and menacing lurking behind the Palin phenomena...
ReplyDeletehttp://intheknow7.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/alaskan-mk-kitty-caribou-barbie-controlled-asset/
If it helps, for those like Anon @7:13, who feel we don't stick to the important issues and are being unfair to Palin, I spent eight years supporting and, yes, defending Bush.
ReplyDeleteI wondered how the economy could survive so many jobs being sent to Mexico and China, while the nation spent billions on war. Not to mention the natural disasters that occurred.
Well, guess what? The economy went in the toilet just before Bush's second term ended.
THAT is when I decided to devote my time to discussing ignorant, greedy, dishonest politicians - like Palin.
Yes, smart tax lawyers can move money along dizzying pathways until it eventually circles around into someone's pocket, and it's all legal. But I don't see those shady pathways being taken here. I see a breathtaking arrogance and sense of entitlement, and someone who has for too long gotten away with blurring the lines between public and private. She can't seem to grasp the distinction between Sarah's money and the PAC's money--except when it comes time to pay it out. In other words, she keeps what's hers; any expenses come out of the PAC.
ReplyDeleteI see a PAC paying for a speech given by Sarah, with the fee for that speech going into Sarah's private pocket. I see the PAC paying for a jet to take Sarah to sign books (no speech, no journalists allowed within 50 feet, no photos), the royalties from which go into Sarah's private pocket.
It is legal for the PAC to buy Sarah's books, with Sarah taking royalties on those books. But it looks really, really sleazy, which is why smart politicians donate their royalties on those books. Sarah is not smart. She's greedy. And her greed will destroy her.
She's playing on a national stage now, one she does not control the way she controlled Alaska. She has made many, many enemies. She simply isn't smart enough for the league she's trying to play in. Audacity, a flash of leg, and a wink will only get your so far.
Anonymous at 7:13 - If anyone should shut up and let the President take care of this unholy mess that has been left to him, it's Lapalin.
ReplyDeleteIf she were not berated and her lies exposed by this and other blogs, who knows what garbage she will be swilling and what "fake edicts" would coming from her ghost writers who have NO experience in politics whatsoever.
This blog and others have done a great public service in exposing the many gates and lies of Palin and her ilk. She deserves everything she gets.
mocha,
ReplyDeleteI think the reason that O'Biden (I just love that) didn't go after Palin the Imbecilic during the debate or really at anytime during the campaign was that they realized that they didn't need to. They understood that Palin was her own worst enemy and they chose to ignore her and let her immolate herself and McCain.
However, I sometimes wish that they had delivered the kind of smackdown to Palin that Obama gave to the GOP House Caucus last week. Palin's base woulndn't be swayed, but it would simply reinforce that Palin is an idiot.
Olbermann didn't go to the Ivy League portion of Cornell:
ReplyDeleteKeith went to an affiliated state college at Cornell, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (acceptance rate: 1 of every 1.01 applicants).
I doubt she'd end up in jail, but she certainly would be given the Willie Nelson treatment!!
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:45 - KO doesn't need us to defend him, he's a big boy and smart enough to do it himself. I'd even go so far as to say Sarah doesn't need anyone to defend her either; but we know that that's not true. She hides behind her seven year old daughter, her iconic DS toddler. . .her second face.
ReplyDeleteBut go ahead, pick on Kieth's academic prowess, could you go head to head?
Anon @ 11:45,
ReplyDeleteAnd precisely what is your point? Are you implying that there is some kind of mental parity Palin and Olbermann? Why do teabaggers like yourselves find it necessary to denigrate EVERYBODY who isn't marching lockstep to your imbecilic drummer? If you think for a minute that Palin could hold her own going one on one with Olbermann, by all means, write to her and tell her to ask to go on Olbermann's show.
Olbermann did a rather detailed rebuttal quite some time ago on your very meme, the same one that Anne "Asshat" Coulter likes to spout. Look up Olbermann on Wikipedia. There IS NO ASTERISK next to where it says "B.S., Cornell University" and to the best of my knowledge, his diploma merely says "Cornell University" and nothing else. What evidence do you have to this Ivy League/Non Ivy League segregation being in effect at Cornell?
Is Palin’s degree superior to ANY degree obtained from Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences? How about degrees in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Biophysics, or Microbiology, are those inferior intellectually to Palin’s degree, even if they too are from the non “Ivy League portion of Cornell?” Are you suggesting that Palin’s multiple college conglomerate degree is somehow superior to Olbermann’s? The fact that he entered at 16 and graduated in four contiguous years at a single school does not support that contention. Olbermann did well enough academically at a school far more prestigious than any Palin attended, AND he didn’t need to shop around to find a school with academic standards low enough to allow him to graduate.
Being the intellectually dishonest buffoon that you are, you have failed to realize that the different Colleges and Departments at Cornell are really no different than at nearly any other school in the country. In Cornell’s case, the different “colleges” sometimes represent different campuses entirely. Since the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is on the main Ithaca campus, so why have you have dubbed it “non Ivy League.” You do realize that none of the academic programs offered at CALS are offered anywhere else at Cornell? Thus, you imperiously label ALL of those programs as being lesser since they are “non Ivy League.”
This from Cornell’s website:
“The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is the second largest undergraduate college at Cornell University and the third largest college of its kind in the United States.” But, no matter. With an imperious wave of your hand you’ve deemed it “non Ivy League.”
Since Olbermann was a communications major, if he attended Cornell, he had no option but to attend the CALS. Maybe you think that Olbermann’s communication degree is not really academically valid? Isn’t Palin’s patchwork quilt degree also in communications? How is hers more valid?
Olbermann is consistently one of the smartest folks on television. He and Rachel Maddow are often the only journalists asking the tough questions of BOTH sides. He has been very hard on Obama at times, so the charge that he is hopelessly liberal is bullshit.
Olbermann would humiliate Palin in an interview, because unlike Couric, he would not give her softball questions. She wouldn't last the first minute of the interview. She also would NEVER accept a challenge to face an informed skeptical reporter who has done his/her homework. She knows that her idiocy would be on full display.
I'll bet you that Palin won't appear on ANY TV venue EXCEPT FauxNews maybe ever again. She knows that anyone else will actually expect her to display a modicum of intelligence and not jut regurgitate the same talking points she has been vomiting the past 18 months.
Palin is a moron. If you honestly think otherwise, then you are also a moron.
There are now three scandals Alaska's former Half Baked Governor is trying to cover up. For some reason the most frightening one, the manipulation of our justice system is not being talked about in MSM. It's almost creepy.
ReplyDelete